CMP conditioner and method of manufacturing the same

Abstract

A chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) conditioner has diamond abrasive grits adhered to a conditioning surface which faces and makes contact with an abrasive pad of a CMP machine. The diamond abrasive grit is adhered to the CMP conditioner body by a metal plating layer, and the CMP conditioner body is formed of resin.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) conditioner used for conditioning (dressing or toothing) of an abrasive pad of the CMP machine for polishing semiconductor wafers, and a method of manufacturing the same.

Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application Nos. JP 2009-107858 and JP 2009-158619 filed in the Japan Patent Office on Apr. 27, 2009, and Jul. 3, 2009, respectively, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

2. Description of Related Art

As the semiconductor industry advances, demands for a machining method for polishing surfaces of metals, semiconductors, ceramics, or the like with a high precision soar. Particularly, as integration on semiconductor wafers increases, there is a demand for surface polishing of a nanometer order. In order to provide such high-precision surface polishing, a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process using a porous CMP pad is commonly performed for the semiconductor wafers.

A surface condition of the CMP pad gradually changes due to clogging or compressive deformation as a polishing time elapses. Thereby, undesirable phenomena such as polishing speed reduction or irregular polishing occur. For this reason, studies have been made of a method of constantly maintaining the surface condition of the CMP pad to provide a desirable polishing condition by grinding the surface of the CMP pad on a regular basis.

As an example of the CMP pad conditioner used to grind the CMP pad, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-239905 discloses a CMP pad conditioner including a core (a base body or a body), a plating layer formed on the core (on the surface facing the CMP pad), and diamond abrasive grits adhered to the core by the plating layer.

As another example of the CMP conditioner, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-132573 discloses an abrasive grit layer having abrasive grits dispersedly adhered to the conditioning surface of the conditioner body. The conditioner body is made of a ceramic, and a bonding layer for adhesively maintaining the abrasive grits in the abrasive grit layer is made of a low-temperature sintered ceramic.

As the wiring on semiconductors becomes extra-fine, a surface polishing process with even higher precision is demanded. As a result, conditioning of the surface of the polishing pad for polishing semiconductors is also needed to be controlled with higher precision, particularly with a lighter weight conditioning pad. However, since stainless steel or ceramics are usually used in the body of the aforementioned CMP conditioner to provide an anticorrosion property, the self-weight of the conditioner increases, making it difficult to perform precisely controlled conditioning.

In order to achieve the conditioning with a lightweight conditioning pad, it has been proposed to produce the body with resin material. However, in a case of the resin body, although the CMP conditioner can be made in a lightweight, the resin tend to be removed easily during the conditioning if the diamond abrasive grits are directly adhered to the resin body. This characteristic adversely affects conditioning performance of the conditioner.

Therefore, covering the resin body with a metal plate, to which diamond abrasive grits are adhered, is needed. Although the diamond abrasive grits can be directly adhered to the resin using an electroplating layer, they may drop off due to an insufficient adhesive force. Although the diamond abrasive grits can be adhered using a sintering bond as an alternative method, it is disadvantageous comparing to the adhesion using the electroplating layer because of higher cost. In addition, the diamond abrasive grits could be fractured, since minute cracks can be generated within the diamond abrasive grits by a thermal shock.

As examples of the related art, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 2005-171185 and 10-211664 disclosed conventional adhesive technologies using an adhesive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) conditioner in which diamond abrasive grit is adhered to a conditioning surface which faces and makes contact with an abrasive pad of a CMP machine, wherein the diamond abrasive grit is adhered to the CMP conditioner body by a metal plating layer, and the CMP conditioner body is formed of resin. The metal plating layer including the diamond abrasive grit and the CMP conditioner body are provided as separate components and bonded as a single body. In this case, it is possible to make the CMP conditioner be lightweight, suppress generation of internal cracks by a thermal impact or the like, and adhere the diamond abrasive grit to the CMP conditioner body at a regularly-spaced interval.

According to another aspect of the invention, an outer peripheral end portion of the metal plating layer is provided with a curved portion curved in a thickness direction of the metal plating layer along a side surface of the CMP conditioner body around the entire periphery. In this case, the rigidity of the metal plating layer increases, and flatness in the conditioning surface is obtained. Since the diamond abrasive grit is adhered to the conditioning surface at a regularly-spaced interval, it is possible to prevent slurries from being soaked from the outer peripheral portion to the bonding surface and to contribute to the bonding strength.

The CMP conditioner body may be made of engineering resin such as polyphenylene ether and polyphenylene sulfite. In this case, it is possible to select a material of the body having a high heat-resistance property and a high anticorrosion property.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) conditioner in which diamond abrasive grit is adhered to a conditioning surface which faces and makes contact with an abrasive pad of a CMP machine, the method including the steps of: forming a base plating layer on a conditioning surface of a CMP conditioner body; forming a Ni-strike plating layer on the base plating layer; arranging diamond abrasive grit on the Ni-strike plating layer; growing a buried plating layer on the Ni-strike plating layer to adhere the diamond abrasive grit; and forming a coating layer on the entire conditioning surface. In this case, it is possible to manufacture a CMP conditioner in which the diamond abrasive grit is adhered to the conditioning surface at regularly-spaced intervals.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) conditioner in which diamond abrasive grit is adhered to a surface of a conditioning surface which faces and makes contact with an abrasive pad of a CMP machine, the method including the steps of: forming a base plating layer on a metal plating layer growth substrate; forming a Ni-strike plating layer on the base plating layer; arranging diamond abrasive grit on the Ni-strike plating layer; growing a buried plating layer on the Ni-strike plating layer to adhere the diamond abrasive grit; forming a coating layer on the entire conditioning surface; and detaching the metal plating layer including the diamond abrasive grit from the metal plating layer growth substrate and attaching the metal plating layer to the conditioning surface of the CMP conditioner body made of resin. In this case, the lightweight CMP conditioner and the metal plating layer adhered with the diamond abrasive grit can be combined easily.

The method may further include steps of attaching a mask punched in a predetermined pattern to the base plating layer and arranging the diamond abrasive grit within holes of the mask after forming the base plating layer and a step of temporarily adhering the diamond abrasive grit by an underlying plating layer, detaching the mask, and growing a buried plating layer to permanently adhere the diamond abrasive grit. In this case, any arrangement pattern of the diamond abrasive grit can be applied in the arranging step.

The steps of temporarily adhering and permanently adhering the diamond abrasive grit may be performed a plurality of times. The method may further include a step of growing a curved portion curved in a thickness direction of the metal plating layer in an outer peripheral end portion of the metal plating layer including the diamond abrasive grit as a single body with the metal plating layer. In this case, flatness in the conditioning surface can be obtained, and the metal plating layer adhered with the diamond abrasive grit to the conditioning surface at a regularly-spaced interval can be manufactured.

According to the aforementioned aspects of the invention, the lightweight CMP conditioner can be manufactured, the CMP conditioner stably adhered with diamond abrasive grit to the body at a regularly-spaced interval can be provided, and a method of manufacturing the above-mentioned CMP conditioner can be provided.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) pad conditioner including a base body, a metal plate which is disposed on the base body and has a cutting blade protruding on a surface to grind a CMP pad facing the surface using the cutting blade, wherein the base body is made of a resin material, wherein the base body and the metal plate are bonded to each other by an adhesive, and wherein a protrusion that is protruding toward the facing surface and has a leading end abutting on the facing surface is provided in at least one of a surface of the base body directed to the metal plate and a surface of the metal plate directed to the base body.

According to another aspect of the invention, a protrusion protruding toward the facing surface is provided in at least one of a surface of the base body directed to the metal plate and a surface of the metal plate directed to the base body, and the leading end of the protrusion abuts on the facing surface. The leading end of the protrusion and the facing surface thereof abut each other and are bonded by the adhesive, and the adhesive interposed in the gap between the base body and the metal plate except for the protrusion also functions to bond the base body and the metal plate to each other. Therefore, the base body and the metal plate are rigidly bonded to each other in a mutual positional determination state.

The mutual positional determination along the bonding surface (the stacking plane between the base body and the metal plate) between the base body and the metal plate is also achieved with high precision by abutting the leading end of the protrusion and the facing surface thereof. Specifically, the adhesive is interposed between the leading end of the protrusion and the facing surface thereof when the adhesive is applied between the facing surfaces, and they are pressed each other. When they are pressed together, excess adhesive flows toward the gap and away from the protrusions.

In this configuration, the leading end of the protrusions and the facing surface thereof abut each other with high precision, even though uneven amount of the adhesive or an unevenly distributed pressing force are applied between the base body and the metal plate. Therefore, the base body's surface facing to the metal plate and the metal plate's surface facing to the base body can be precisely positioned. In addition, it is possible to prevent the body and the metal plate from being disposed in a nonparallel slanted state. Furthermore, it is possible to stably bond the base body and the metal plating plate.

It is possible to further increase the bonding strength between the base body and the metal plating plate, since the bonding area between the adhesive and the surface having the protrusion is increased. In addition, it is possible to obtain a sufficient bonding strength, particularly, a peeling strength between the base body and the metal plating plate with respect to a direction perpendicular to the surface, since an anchor effect can be achieved from an external side surface by applying the adhesive to the external surface other than the leading end of the protrusion.

The leading end of the protrusion may be provided on a plane matching to the facing surface thereof. In this case, it is possible to sufficiently increase a degree of adhesion between the leading end and the surface that abut each other. Therefore, it is possible to sufficiently increase the aforementioned bonding strength.

A plurality of protrusions may be provided, and the heights of the protrusions protruded from the provided surface thereof may be set to be the same. In this case, the protrusions abut on the facing surface thereof while the leading ends of the protrusions are dispersed on the surface. Therefore, the base body can stably support the metal plate. Since the protrusions have the same height protruding from the provided surface thereof, the base body can more stably support the metal plate. In addition, it is possible to obtain a sufficient contact area between the protrusions and the facing surface thereof and increase the bonding strength.

The outer peripheral portion of the metal plate may be provided with a covering portion having a tubular shape which covers the outer peripheral portion of the base body along the thickness direction of the metal plate. In this case, it is possible to increase the rigidity of the metal plate and obtain flatness in the surface where the cutting blade is disposed. Due to the shape of the covering portion, the opening edge portion of the covering portion is disposed away from the CMP pad. Therefore, it is possible to prevent slurries for a polishing process from rushing in from a gap between the metal plate and the base body and stabilize the aforementioned bonding strength for a long period of time.

By providing the covering portion, it is possible to lengthen the distance that the excess amount of adhesive flows from the center to the outer side in a radial direction between the base body and the metal plate reaches the outer side when the base body and the metal plate are bonded to each other. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the adhesive from being leaked from the gap between the base body and the metal plate.

An outer peripheral edge portion of a surface of the base body directed to the metal plate may be provided with a convex curved portion, and an outer peripheral edge portion of a surface of the metal plate directed to the base body may be provided with a concave curved portion having a shape matching to the convex curved portion. In this case, the adhesive interposed between the base body and the metal plate is tightly sealed, since the convex curved portion and the concave curved portion abut each other when the base body is bonded to the metal plate. It is possible to prevent the adhesive from flowing outward and leaking from the gap between the convex curved portion and the concave curved portion facing each other.

The base body may be provided with an annular edge portion abutting on an opening edge portion of the covering portion. In this case, even when the excess amount of adhesive flowing outward from the center as described above to bond the base body and the metal plate reaches the opening edge portion, the edge portion suppresses the adhesive from flowing further outward. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the adhesive from leaking outside.

According to another aspect of the invention, a surface area of the leading ends of the protrusion to may have an area ratio of 20 to 78% for the provided bonding surface thereof. In this case, it is possible to obtain a sufficient bonding area between the protrusions and the facing surface and a sufficient bonding strength.

The protrusions stably support the metal plate for the external force applied to the metal plate from the CMP pad when the CMP pad is grinded. Therefore, the grinding performance of the CMP pad is stabilized.

Since a space for allowing the excess amount of adhesive to escape is sufficiently provided in the gap between the base body and the metal plate, precise positioning of the base body and the metal plate can be achieved.

If the area ratio of the protrusions is set to be lower than 20%, the bonding area between the base body and the metal plate is reduced, and sufficient bonding strength is not obtained. In this case, the metal plating plate may be peeled from the base body. In addition, the protrusion fails to stably support the metal plate for the external force applied to the metal plate from the CMP pad when the CMP pad is grinded, and the surface of the metal plate becomes susceptible to deformation. Furthermore, the cutting blade makes irregular contact with CMP pad, and the grinding performance becomes unstable.

If the area ratio of the protrusions is set to be higher than 78%, the excess amount of adhesive of the adhesive interposed between leading ends of the protrusions and the facing surface thereof hardly flows even when the excess amount of adhesive is applied to bond the base body and the metal plate. In this case, the base body and the metallic plate are bonded in a slanted state, and the cutting blade makes irregular contact with the CMP pad. As a result, the grinding performance becomes unstable.

The protrusion may be set such that an area of a leading end thereof gradually increases from a center to an outer side of the provided surface thereof. In this case, the strength of the contacting surface of the CMP conditioning pad can be increased, since deformation in the metal plate which supports the protrusion is suppressed gradually from the center to the outer side.

When the CMP pad is grinded, a contact area on the CMP conditioner which is away from the center, travels faster against the contacting CMP pad, and as a consequence, a larger external force is applied. In the aforementioned configuration, the rigidity at the outer area of the metal plate for the external force is higher than that in the center thereof. Therefore, deformation in the metal plate is suppressed, and the grinding performance of the CMP pad is stabilized.

In the CMP pad conditioner according to aforementioned aspects of the invention, it is possible to improve the bonding strength by precise positioning and stable bonding of the base body and the metal plate with an adhesive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-section seen from the side of the CMP conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view illustrating an abrasive grit layer of the CMP conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 3A to 3F are cross-sectional diagrams illustrating each step for manufacturing the CMP conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 4A to 4E are enlarged cross-sectional diagrams illustrating a diamond abrasive grit adhering portion in each step for manufacturing the CMP conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional diagram illustrating a CMP pad conditioner according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a cross section along a line A2-A2 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a side cross-sectional diagram illustrating an enlarged view of a cutting blade of the CMP pad conditioner according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 8A to 8F illustrate a sequence of manufacturing the CMP pad conditioner according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 9A to 9E are partially-enlarged diagrams illustrating a sequence of manufacturing the cutting blade in a process of manufacturing the CMP pad conditioner according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating the CMP pad conditioner according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a side cross-sectional diagram illustrating a modification of the CMP pad conditioner according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a side cross-sectional diagram illustrating the CMP pad conditioner according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a side cross-sectional diagram illustrating the CMP pad conditioner according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 illustrates adhesion between the base material and the metal plate for manufacturing the CMP pad conditioner.

FIG. 15 illustrates adhesion between the base material and the metal plate for manufacturing the CMP pad conditioner.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

First Embodiment

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention is described in detail. FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a CMP conditioner 11 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The CMP conditioner 11 includes a body 12 having a circular disc shape with respect to the axial line O1, a metal plating layer 16, and diamond abrasive grits 18. The body 12 may be formed of resin, and preferably, of polyphenylene-based resin materials having a glass-transition temperature of 211° C. and a water absorption coefficient of 0.050% such as PPE and PPS. Further, the metal plating layer 16 includes a base plating layer 118, a Ni-strike plating layer 120, an underlying plating layer 110, and a buried plating layer 112. A coating layer (not shown) may be further provided on the buried plating layer 112.

A peripheral edge 12A of a surface facing to an abrasive pad (not shown) of the body 12 is chamfered in an R-shape around the entire circumference. The metal plating layer 16 is provided on a surface facing to the side of the abrasive pad of the body 12. A curved portion 114 curved in a thickness direction of the metal plating layer 16 along the R-shape of the peripheral edge 12A of the body 12 is formed in the peripheral end portion of the metal plating layer 16. The curvature radius of the cross section of the edge 12A is preferably set to 0.1 to 3.0 mm, and more preferably set to 0.5 to 1.0 mm, but not limited thereto. It is preferable that the cross section of the curved portion 114 has the same curvature radius.

It is preferable that the diamond abrasive grits 18 have similar grit diameter. The average grit diameter of the diamond abrasive grit 18 is preferably set to 140 to 250 μm, but not limited thereto. The diamond abrasive grits 18 are arranged on the surface facing to the abrasive pad side of the metal plating layer 16, constituting a conditioning surface 14. The abrasive grits may be arranged according to a predetermined rule such as a grid pattern.

As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of diamond abrasive grits 18 are arranged on the Ni-strike plating layer 120 and adhered by an underlying plating layer 110, and a buried plating layer 112 formed thereon so that they are adhered as a single layer on the conditioning surface 14. In the buried plating layer 112, a bulged portion 112A bulged as high as the thickness of the underlying plating layer 110 is formed in the area that has the underlying plating layer 110 underneath. As a result, the diamond abrasive grits 18 are protruded from the surface of the bulged portion 112A of the buried plating layer 112 as high as a predetermined amount, preferably 10 to 30% of the average abrasive grit diameter. A coating layer (not shown) such as a noble metal plating may be further provided on the metal plating layer 112 in order to improve an anticorrosion property of the conditioning pad.

The CMP conditioner 11 is used in conditioning of the abrasive pad in such a way that the conditioning surface 14 and the surface of the abrasive pad of the CMP machine face each other in parallel and make contact with each other while the CMP conditioner 11 is rotated with respect to the axial line O1. The body 12 itself is moved between an interior and exterior zone of the rotating abrasive pad in oscillatory movement without encroaching the center area of the rotating abrasive pad.

Next, a method of manufacturing the CMP conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention is described. FIGS. 3A to 3F and FIGS. 4A to 4E illustrate a method of manufacturing the CMP conditioner 11 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this method, the metal plating layer 16 and the body 12 are fabricated as separate components.

A base plating layer 118 having a thickness of 80 μm is formed by a jet plating on the metal plating layer growth substrate 116 formed of a conductive material such as stainless steel in a circular disc shape, and a Ni-strike plating layer 120 having a thickness of 0.5 μm is formed thereon (refer to FIG. 2). According to an embodiment of the present invention, all the plating layers are formed as a Ni-plating layer. Since the outer circumference of the metal plating layer growth substrate 116 and the overlying peripheral portion 116A have the same cross-sectional shape as that of the body 12, the curved portion 114 is also formed with the metal plating layer 16 as a single body.

Next, a seal mask 122 punched in a predetermined pattern (such as a grid pattern) is attached to the Ni-strike plating layer 120 (refer to FIGS. 2, 3B and 4A). Diamond abrasive grits 18 are sedimented on the holes of the seal mask 122 using a plating bath as shown in FIG. 4B. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the diamond abrasive grits have a grit diameter, e.g., #100, the thickness of the seal mask 122 is, e.g., 80 μm, and the hole diameter is 250 μm.

Then, the diamond abrasive grits 18 are temporarily adhered by the underlying plating layer 110 (refer to FIGS. 3C and 4C). According to an embodiment of the present invention, the temporal adherence by the underlying plating layer 110 is performed by two steps including the first step in which the diamond abrasive grit 18 is initially buried by 15 μm and the second step in which the diamond abrasive grit 18 is further buried by 35 μm after changing the plating bath. Between the first and second steps, remnant diamond abrasive grits that have not been sedimented on the holes of the seal mask 122 or that have been insufficiently adhered because two or more diamond abrasive grits are sedimented on a single hole, are removed. The temporal adherence with the underlying plating layer 110 may be performed in a single step to remove the unstable diamond abrasive grits after the temporal adherence.

After completing the temporal adherence of the diamond abrasive grits 18, the seal mask 122 is detached (refer to FIG. 4D), and the buried plating layer 112 is formed by a jet plating so that the diamond abrasive grit 18 is buried and permanently adhered to the surface of the conditioning pad (refer to FIGS. 3D and 4E). According to an embodiment of the present invention, the permanent adherence is also performed in two steps, and the thickness of the buried plating layer 112 reaches to 60 μm in the end. By performing the permanent adherence in two steps, it is possible to precisely control the thickness of the buried plating layer 112. The step of the permanent adherence may be performed in a single step. To improve an anticorrosion property, a coating layer having a thickness of 16 μM may be additionally formed on the buried plating layer 112.

Using a cutting blade having a sharp blade edge, the metal plating layer 16 including the diamond abrasive grit 18 formed on the metal plating layer growth substrate 116 is detached from the metal plating layer growth substrate 116 (refer to FIG. 3E). Since the detached metal plating layer 16 has an annular curved portion 114 in the peripheral portion to increase the mechanical strength, flatness in the metal plating layer 16 can be obtained without deformation caused by remaining stress.

Finally, the metal plating layer 16 is attached to a body 12 made of resin through a separate process (refer to FIG. 3F). The body 12 may be formed through a mechanical machining or an injection molding. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the metal plating layer 16 is attached to the body 12 using, for example, a two-liquid mixed type adhesive. A double-sided attachment tape may be used instead of the adhesive, or the formation of the body 12 and the attachment of the metal plating layer 16 may be simultaneously performed by an insert molding.

Since the curved portion 114 is provided, positional alignment is not required when the metal plating layer 16 is installed to the body 12. Since the curved portion 114 covers a part of the side face of the body 12, a boundary between the metal plating layer 16 and the body 12 hardly touches slurries during the conditioning, and slurries are not squeezed into the boundary between the metal plating layer 16 and the body 12. Therefore, the metal plating layer 16 is hardly peeled off from the body 12. Since the body 12 is made of resin, a lightweight body of a CMP conditioner can be manufactured relatively easily compared with manufacturing that made of the stainless steel body. This allows reduction of the cost for manufacturing the CMP conditioner. If a resin having bad heat resistance such as polycarbonate is used, the flatness of the polished wafer may be insufficient. However, it is possible to obtain excellent flatness if a resin such as PPO or PPS, which have a glass-transition temperature of 211° C. and a water absorption coefficient of 0.050%, is used.

Since the diamond abrasive grits are adhered on the metal plating layer 16, it is possible to adhere the diamond abrasive grits to the body at a regularly-spaced interval. Furthermore, it is possible to select a material of the body having higher anticorrosion and heat-resistant properties if needed.

In the manufacturing method according to the present application, it is possible to readily manufacture the CMP conditioner with a resin body and the diamond abrasive grits are adhered securely to the conditioning surface at a regularly-spaced interval. It is possible to arrange the diamond abrasive grit on the conditioning surface in any pattern.

While, according to the present embodiment, the resin body 12 and the metal plating layer 16 including the diamond abrasive grit 18 is separately manufactured, the metal plating layer 16 including the diamond abrasive grit 18 may be directly formed on the surface on the abrasive pad side of the body 12.

In aforementioned embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, the diamond abrasive grits (cutting blade) 2112 are adhered on the surface 2102A (the top surface of FIG. 14) of the metal plate 2102 and stand out from the surface 2102A, facing to the CMP pad side. The surface 2102B (the bottom surface of FIG. 14) of the metal plate 2102 faces to the base body 2103 side. The surface 2103A (the top surface of FIG. 14) of the resin base body 2103 faces to the metal plate 2102 side. The two surfaces 2102B and 2103A are bonded to each other with an adhesive B2.

However, when the metal plate 2102 and the base body 2103 are bonded with the adhesive B2 as described above, the following problems may occur. As shown in FIG. 15, the surface 2102B of the facing metal plate 2102 and the surface 2103A of the base body 2103 may be attached in a slanted state. The improper positioning could occur when excess amount of the adhesive B2 is applied or the adhesive B2 is applied unevenly. In addition, it occurs when a pressing force applied unevenly. In this case, grinding the CMP pad in high precision is impossible, because the diamond abrasive grits 2112 disposed on the surface 2102A of the metal plate 2102 make irregular contact with the CMP pad.

Furthermore, when the metal plate 2102 and the base body 2103 are bonded, if an excessively strong force applied or excess amount of the adhesive B2 is applied, the adhesive Bs may be leaked out from the gap between the metal plate 2102 and the base body 2103 and spoil appearance of the product.

In the example of FIG. 15, both the surface 2102B of the metal plate 2102 and the surface 2103A of the base body 2103 are flat surfaces. In this case, a bonding strength may not be obtained against an external force in a direction perpendicular to the surfaces 2102B and 2103A (a peeling off direction).

For this reason, it is demanded to provide a CMP pad conditioner having an improved bonding strength by precise positioning and stable bonding between the base body and the metal plate with an adhesive. In the following second embodiment, this problem is addressed.

Second Embodiment

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the CMP pad conditioner 21 according to the second embodiment of the present invention includes a base body 22 which has a circular disc shape and rotates with respect to the axial line O2 and a metal plating plate (or metal plate) 26 which is disposed on the base body 22 and has a circular disc shape with the diamond abrasive grits (or cutting blade) 28 being protruded on the surface 26A. The CMP pad conditioner 21 is used in the CMP machine to perform a grinding process by the diamond abrasive grits 28 on the CMP pad (not shown) disposed to face the surface 26A of the metal plating plate 26. The CMP pad is used to polish semiconductor wafers.

The base body 22 and the metal plating plate 26 are bonded to each other with the adhesive B2. According to the second embodiment of the present invention, a two-liquid mixed type is used as the adhesive B2.

The base body 22 is formed on a resin material such as engineering plastics. According to the second embodiment of the present invention, the base body 22 is formed of a polyphenylene-based resin material such as PPE or PPS having a glass-transition temperature of 211° C. and a water absorption coefficient of 0.050%.

In the base body 22, the outer peripheral edge portion of the surface 22A facing to the metal plating plate 26 side (the top side of FIG. 5) is provided with an annular convex curved portion 22C extending in a peripheral direction of the base body 22.

The surface 22A of the base body 22 is provided with a plurality of protrusions 23 having a circular column shape or a circular disc shape. The protrusions 23 are protruded toward the surface 26B of the metal plating plate 26 facing to the base body 22 side (the bottom side of FIG. 5), and the leading ends thereof abut on the surface 26B. The leading ends of the protrusions 23 form a flat surface matching to the facing surface 26B.

The diameters of the protrusions 23 are set to, for example, 1 to 5 mm. These protrusions 23 are set to have the same height (the height along the axial line O2) from the surface 22A. The height of the protrusion 23 is set to, for example, 0.1 to 1.0 mm. The protrusions 23 are separated from each other, and the space between the protrusions 23 is set to allow the adhesive B2 to be retained in the vacancy. In the plan view of FIG. 6, the total area of the protrusions 23 is set to occupy 20 to 78% of the entire area of the surface 22A.

As shown in FIG. 7, the metal plating plate 26 includes a base plating layer 218, a Ni-strike plating layer 220, an underlying plating layer 210, and a buried plating layer 212. A coating layer (not shown) may be further provided on the buried plating layer 212.

In FIG. 5, the outer peripheral edge portion of the surface 26B of the metal plating plate 26 is provided with a concave curved portion 26C corresponding to the convex curved portion 22C of the base body 22. The concave curved portion 26C has an annular shape extending in a peripheral direction in the outer peripheral edge portion of the metal plating plate 26. According to the second embodiment of the present invention, a gap for retaining the adhesive B2 is formed between the convex curved portion 22C and the concave curved portion 26C.

The concave curved portion 26C forms a tubular covering portion 25 which covers the outer peripheral portion of the base body 22 extending along the thickness direction (i.e., in the direction of the axial line O2) of the metal plating plate 26 in the outer peripheral portion of the metal plating plate 26. The opening edge portion (the lower end edge in FIG. 5) of the covering portion 25 is abutted on the outer peripheral surface of the base body 22.

In FIG. 7, most of the diamond abrasive grits 28 have similar grit diameter. The diamond abrasive grit 28 is bulged out from the surface 26A from the CMP pad side of the metal plating plate 26 and arranged on the surface 26A so as to provide a conditioning surface 24. The diamond abrasive grit 28 may be arranged according to a predetermined rule such as a grid pattern.

As shown in the drawing, a plurality of diamond abrasive grit 28 is arranged on the Ni-strike plating layer 220 and buried by the underlying plating layer 210 and the buried plating layer 212 so as to be adhered to the conditioning surface 24 as a single layer. As a result, the diamond abrasive grit 28 is bulged as high as a predetermined amount from the surface of the buried plating layer 212. A coating layer such as noble metal plating may be further provided on buried plating layer 212 in the metal plating plate 26 in order to improve an anticorrosion property.

The CMP pad conditioner 21 configured as described above is used in conditioning of the CMP pad in such a way that the conditioning surface 24 and the surface of the abrasive pad of the CMP machine face each other in parallel and make contact with each other while the CMP conditioner 21 is rotated with respect to the axial line O2. The body 22 itself is moved between an interior and exterior zone of the rotating abrasive pad in oscillatory movement without encroaching the center area of the rotating abrasive pad.

Next, a method of manufacturing the CMP pad conditioner 21 is described with reference to FIGS. 8A to 8F and 9A to 9E. The metal plating plate 26 and the base body 22 of the CMP pad conditioner 21 are manufactured as separate components.

First, a process of manufacturing the metal plating plate 26 is described.

As shown in FIG. 8A, the base plating layer 218 having a thickness of 80 μm is formed on the metal plating plate growth substrate 216 formed of stainless steel or the like by a jet plating. Then, the Ni-strike plating layer 220 having a thickness of 0.5 μm is formed thereon. According to the second embodiment of the present embodiment, all the plating layers are Ni-plating layers. By forming the metal plating plate 26 such that the shape of the metal plating plate growth substrate 216 matches to the shape of the surface 26B of the aforementioned metal plating plate 26, the covering portion 25 and the concave curved portion 26C thereof are formed on the metal plating plate 26 as a single body. Instead of the Ni-plating layer made of the base plating layer 218 and the Ni-strike plating layer 220 manufactured as described above, for example, an SUS rolled steel plate may be used. In addition, the shape shown in FIG. 8A may be molded by performing a drawing process such as a press work for the SUS rolled steel plate having a flat panel shape.

Next, a seal mask 222 punched in a predetermined pattern (such as a grid pattern) is attached to the Ni-strike plating layer 220 (or the SUS rolled steel plate) (refer to FIGS. 8B and 9A). Diamond abrasive grits 28 are sedimented on the holes of the seal mask 222 in the plating bath as shown in FIG. 9B. According to the second embodiment of the present invention, the diamond abrasive grit 28 has an average grit diameter, e.g., #100, the thickness of the seal mask 222 is set to, e.g., 80 μm, and the hole diameter is set to 250 μm.

Then, as shown in FIG. 9C, the diamond abrasive grits 28 are temporarily adhered by the underlying plating layer 210. According to the second embodiment of the present invention, the temporal adherence by the underlying plating layer 210 is performed by two steps including the first step in which the diamond abrasive grit 28 is initially buried by 15 μm and the second step in which the diamond abrasive grit 28 is further buried by 35 μm after changing the plating bath. Between the first and second steps, remnant diamond abrasive grits that have not been sedimented on the holes of the seal mask 222 or that have been insufficiently adhered because two or more diamond abrasive grits are sedimented on a single hole, are removed. The temporal adherence by the underlying plating layer 210 may be performed in a single step to remove the unstable diamond abrasive grit after the temporal adherence.

After the diamond abrasive grit 28 is temporarily adhered, the seal mask 222 is detached as shown in FIG. 9D.

Then, as shown in FIGS. 8D and 9E, the buried plating layer 212 is formed by jet plating, and the diamond abrasive grit 28 is buried and permanently adhered to the surface of the CMP conditioner pad. According to the second embodiment of the present invention, the permanent adherence is also performed in two steps, and the thickness of the buried plating layer 212 becomes 60 μm in the end. By performing the permanent adherence in two steps, it is possible to precisely control the thickness of the buried plating layer 212. The step of the permanent adherence may also be performed in a single step. To improve an anticorrosion property, a coating layer having a thickness of 16 μm may be additionally formed on the buried plating layer 212.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 8E, using a cutting blade having a sharp blade edge, the metal plating layer 26 including the diamond abrasive grits 28 is detached from the metal plating layer growth substrate 216. Since the detached metal plating layer 26 has a covering portion 25 to increase the mechanical strength, flatness in the metal plating layer 26 can be obtained without deformation caused by remnant stress.

Meanwhile, the base body 22 is injection-molded. The base body 22 is formed by filling a molten resin material such as engineering plastics in a mold, solidifying, and taking it from a mold. The base body 22 may be formed by a mechanical process instead of the injection molding.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 8F, the metal plating plate 26 is attached to the base body 22. According to the second embodiment of the present invention, the metal plating plate 26 is attached to the base body 22 using a two-liquid mixed type adhesive B2.

A constant quantity of the adhesive B2 is regularly applied to at least one of the surface 22A of the base body 22 or the surface 26B of the metal plating plate 26 using a dispenser robot before the base body 22 and the metal plating plate 26 are bonded. It is preferable to set the amount of the applied adhesive B2 to a volume corresponding to the gap between the surfaces 22A and 26B excluding the volume occupied by the protrusions 23, and further apply the adhesive B2 to the leading end of the protrusions 23, since the base body 22 and the metal plating plate 26 can be attached through sufficient area and sufficient adhering force can be achieved.

Since the metal plating plate 26 is provided with the covering portion 25, the opening edge portion of the covering portion 25 is guided along the outer peripheral surface of the base body 22 when the base body 22 is bonded to the metal plating plate 26. Therefore, positional alignment between the metal plating plate 26 and the base body 22 is not required. In this manner, the CMP pad conditioner 21 is manufactured.

As described above, in the CMP pad conditioner 21 according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the surface 22A of the base body 22 facing to the metal plating plate 26 side is provided with protrusions 23 protruding toward the surface 26B of the metal plating plate 26, and the leading ends of the protrusions 23 abut on the facing surface 26B. The leading ends of the protrusions 23 and the surface 26B abut each other and are bonded by the adhesive B2. The adhesive B2 interposed in the gap between the base body 22 and the metal plating plate 26 excluding a space occupied by the protrusions 23. The adhesive 22 functions to bond the base body 22 and the metal plating plate 26 to each other. Therefore, the base body 22 and the metal plating plate 26 are rigidly bonded to each other in a mutual positional determination state.

The mutual position determination along the direction of the axial line O2 between the base body 22 and the metal plating plate 26 with high precision is achieved by abutting the leading ends of the protrusions 23 on the facing surface 26B. Specifically, the adhesive B2 is interposed between the leading ends of the protrusions 23 and the facing surface 26B. When they are attached to each other, excess amount of the adhesive B2 flows out toward the gap which is not the space occupied by the protrusions 23.

In this configuration, the leading ends of the protrusions 23 and the facing surface 26B abut each other with high precision, even though an improper or uneven amount of the adhesive B2 is applied, or an unevenly distributed pressing force is applied between the base body 22 and the metal plating plate 26. Therefore, it is possible to position the surface 22A of the base body 22 facing to the metal plating plate 26 side and the surface 26B of the metal plating plate 26 facing to the base body 22 in the positional determination state with high precision. Consequently, it is possible to prevent these surfaces 22A and 26B from being disposed in a nonparallel slanted state. Furthermore, it is possible to stably bond the base body 22 and the metal plating plate 26.

Since a bonding area between the adhesive B2 and the surface 22A on the protrusions 23 increases, it is possible to increase a bonding strength between the base body 22 and the metal plating plate 26. In addition, since an anchor effect can be achieved from an external surface (23C in FIG. 5) by applying the adhesive B2 to the external surface 23C in addition to the leading ends of the protrusions 23, it is possible to obtain a sufficient bonding strength, particularly, in an peeling off direction along which the base body 22 and the metal plating plate 26 are separated with respect to the axial line O2.

Since the leading ends of the protrusions 23 are provided on a plane matching to the facing surface 26B thereof, it is possible to sufficiently increase a degree of adhesion between the leading ends and the surface 26B that abut each other. Therefore, it is possible to sufficiently increase the aforementioned bonding strength.

Since a plurality of protrusions 23 are provided, the protrusions 23 abut on the facing surface 26B while the protrusions 23 are dispersed on the surface 22A. Therefore, the base body 22 can stably support the metal plating plate 26. Since the protrusions 23 have the same height protruded from the provided surface 22A thereof, the base body 22 can more stably support the metal plating plate 26. In addition, it is possible to obtain a sufficient contact area between the protrusions 23 and the facing surface 26B and increase the bonding strength thereof.

The covering portion 25 is provided to form a tubular shape extending in a thickness direction, which is in line with the axial line O2, of the metal plating plate 26, from the outer peripheral portion of the metal plating plate 26. The covering portion 25 covers a part of the outer peripheral portion of the base body 22. As a result, it is possible to increase the rigidity of the metal plating plate 26 and also obtain flatness in the surface 26A where the diamond abrasive grit 28 is provided.

Due to the shape of the covering portion 25, the opening edge portion of the cover portion 25 is disposed away from the contacting CMP pad. Therefore, it is possible to prevent slurries for a polishing process from rushing in from a gap between the metal plating plate 26 and the base body 22 and retain the aforementioned bonding strength for a long period of time.

By providing the covering portion 25, it is possible to lengthen the distance the excess amount of adhesive B2 need to flow from the center to the outer side in a radial direction between the base body 22 and the metal plating plate 26, to reach to the outside when the base body 22 and the metal plating plate 26 are bonded. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the adhesive B2 from leaking from the gap between the base body 22 and the metal plating plate 26.

Since the area ratio of the leading end of protrusions 23 is set to 20 to 78% of the entire area of the provided surface 22A thereof, it is possible to obtain a sufficient bonding area between the protrusions 23 and the facing surface 26B thereof and to obtain sufficient bonding strength.

The protrusions 23 stably support the metal plating plate 26 against the external force applied to the metal plating plate 26 from the CMP pad when the CMP pad is grinded. Therefore, the grinding performance for the CMP pad is stabilized.

Since a space for keeping the excess amount of adhesive B2 is sufficiently provided in the gap between the base body 22 and the metal plating plate 26 excluding a space occupied by the protrusions 23, it is possible to increase positional precision between the base body 22 and the metal plating plate 26.

If the area ratio of the leading end of the protrusions 23 is set to be smaller than 20%, the bonding area between the base body 22 and the metal plating plate 26 is not sufficiently obtained, and the bonding strength is reduced. In this case, the metal plating plate 26 may be peeled off from the base body 22. In addition, the protrusion 23 fails to stably support the metal plating plate 26 against the external force applied to the metal plating plate 26 from the CMP pad when the CMP pad is grinded, and the surface 26A of the metal plating plate 26 becomes susceptible to deformation. Furthermore, the diamond abrasive grits 28 make irregular contact with CMP pad, and the grinding performance becomes unstable.

If the area ratio of the leading end of the protrusions 23 is set to be larger than 78%, the excess amount of adhesive B2 interposed between leading ends of the protrusions 23 and the facing surface 26B thereof hardly flows out even when the excess amount of adhesive B2 is pressed to bond the base body 22 and the metal plating plate 26.

In this case, the base body 22 and the metal plating plate 26 are bonded in a slanted state, and the diamond abrasive grit 28 makes irregular contact with the CMP pad. As a result, the grinding performance becomes unstable.

Since the body 22 is made of resin, a lightweight body of a CMP conditioner can be manufactured relatively easily compared with manufacturing that made of the stainless steel body. This allows reduction of the cost for manufacturing the CMP conditioner.

If the base body 22 is manufactured using a resin having bad heat resistance such as polycarbonate is used, it is anticipated that the base body 22 would be thermally deformed, and it may be impossible to obtain sufficient flatness in the semiconductor wafer polished by the CMP pad. Therefore, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to obtain excellent flatness in the semiconductor wafer by using engineering plastics having a high heat-resistance property such as PPO and PPS resins having a glass-transition temperature of 211° C. and a water absorption coefficient of 0.050%.

By adhering the diamond abrasive grit 28 using the configuration of the aforementioned metal plating plate 26, it is possible to adhere the diamond abrasive grits 28 to the base body 22 in any arrangement and a protrusion height. In addition, since the metal plating plate 26 and the base body 22 are manufactured as separate components, it is possible to select a material of the base body 22 having a high heat-resistance property and a high anticorrosion property if needed.

According to the aforementioned manufacturing method, it is possible to relatively easily manufacture the CMP pad conditioner 21 whose base body 22 is made of resin, and conditioning surface 24 has the diamond abrasive grit 28 adhered on at a regularly-spaced interval.

Third Embodiment

Next, the third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. The reference numerals in the aforementioned embodiments are used to the same members in this embodiment, and descriptions thereof will be omitted.

The CMP pad conditioner 211 according to the third embodiment is different from the CMP pad conditioner 21 of the aforementioned embodiment in that the protrusions 23 are set such that the areas of the leading ends increase gradually from the center to the outer circumference on the provided surface 22A thereof.

Referring to FIG. 10, a plurality of protrusions 23 having a circular column shape of a circular disc shape are provided on the surface 22A of the base body 22, and these protrusions 23 have the same shape. In addition, in the CMP pad conditioner 211 of the present embodiment, the protrusions 23 are arranged gradually densely from the center to the outer circumference in a radial direction on the surface 22A.

The protrusions 23 are arranged such that the interval between the neighboring protrusions 23 is narrowed gradually from the center to the outer circumference on the surface 22A. Accordingly, the area of the leading ends of the protrusions 23 increases gradually from the center to the outer circumference as a whole.

As described above, in the CMP pad conditioner 211 according to the present embodiment, the protrusions 23 are set such that the areas of the leading ends thereof increase gradually from the center to the outer circumference on the surface 22A thereof. Therefore, deformation of the metal plating plate 26 supported by the protrusions 23 is suppressed more effectively at the outer circumference corresponding to the density of the protrusions 23.

When the CMP pad is grinded, a contact area on the CMP conditioner which is away from the center, travels faster against the contacting CMP pad, and as a consequence, a larger external force is applied. However, in the aforementioned configuration, the rigidity in the outer circumference of the metal plating plate 26 against the external force is higher than that in the center thereof. Therefore, deformation in the metal plating plate 26 is suppressed, and the grinding performance for the CMP pad is stabilized.

FIG. 11 illustrates a modification of the CMP pad conditioner 211 according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 11, the CMP pad conditioner 221 includes a plurality of protrusions 23 having a circular column shape or a circular disc shape on the surface 22A of the base body 22. The shapes of the protrusions 23 are different between those inwardly disposed and those outwardly disposed in a radial direction of the surface 22A.

Specifically, the diameters of the protrusions 23 outwardly disposed in a radial direction of the surface 22A are set to be larger than those inwardly disposed. As a result, the areas of the leading end of individual protrusions 23 increase gradually from the center to the outer circumference of the surface 22A.

Fourth Embodiment

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to FIG. 12. The reference numerals in the aforementioned embodiments are used to the same members in this embodiment, and descriptions thereof will be omitted.

The CMP pad conditioner 231 according to the fourth embodiment is provided with a convex curved portion 232C which extends along a peripheral direction and has an annular shape in the outer peripheral edge portion of the surface 22A of the base body 22.

The convex curved portion 232C has a height corresponding to the height of the protrusion 23 provided on the surface 22A and matches with the leading ends of the protrusions 23. In addition, the shape of the convex curved portion 232C matches to the shape of the concave curved portion 26C of the surface 26B on the metal plating plate 26. As a result, the convex curved portion 232C of the base body 22 and the concave curved portion 26C of the metal plating plate 26 tightly abut each other.

The outer peripheral portion of the metal plating plate 26 is provided with a cylindrical covering portion 235 which extends toward the base body 22 side along the thickness direction (a vertical direction in FIG. 12) and covers the outer peripheral portion of the base body 22. The covering portion 235 at the outer peripheral portion of the base body 22, extends from the ends of the metal plating plate 26 side to the center inwardly along with width direction of the base body 22. The opening edge portion of the covering portion 235 is arranged in the ends of the opposite side (the bottom side of FIG. 12) of the metal plating plate 26 side on the outer peripheral surface of the base body 22. The inner peripheral surface of the covering portion 235 is appressed tightly to the outer peripheral surface of the base body 22.

At the outer end of the contacting surface of the metal plating plate 26, the concave curved portion 26C is provided. In the concave curved portion 26C of the covering portion 235, the distance H along the thickness direction from the end (the bottom side of FIG. 12) of the opposite side to the metal plating plate 26 side to the opening edge portion is set to, for example, 0.1 to 6.0 mm.

At the lower end of the outer peripheral surface of the base body 22, an annular edge portion (projection portion) 22D which is outwardly protruded in a radial direction and extends in a peripheral direction, is provided. The surface of the projection portion 22D abuts on the opening edge portion of the covering portion 235. The shape of the projection portion 22D, which protrudes outwardly in a radial direction matches with that of the opening portion of the covering portion 235. The junction between the projection portion 22D and the end of the covering portion 235 forms flat surface in the thickness direction at the peripheral surface of the conditioning pad 231.

As described above, in the CMP pad conditioner 231 according to the present invention, the adhesive B2 interposed between the base body 22 and the metal plating plate 26 is tightly sealed, since the convex curved portion 232C and the concave curved portion 26C abut each other and appressed tightly when the base body 22 is bonded to the metal plating plate 26. It is possible to prevent the adhesive B2 from flowing outward from the gap between the convex curved portion 232C and the concave curved portion 26C facing each other.

Since the base body 22 is provided with the annular edge portion (projection portion) 22D which abuts on the opening edge portion of the covering portion 235 of the metal plating plate 26, even when the excess amount of adhesive B2 flowing outward from the center reaches the opening edge portion, the edge portion 22D suppresses the adhesive B2 from flowing further outward. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the adhesive B2 from leaking outside.

Fifth Embodiment

Next, the fifth embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to FIG. 13. The reference numerals in the aforementioned embodiments are used to the same members in this embodiment, and descriptions thereof will be omitted.

In the CMP pad conditioner 241 according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention, the surface 26B of the metal plating plate 26 facing to the base body 22 side is provided with a plurality of protrusions 213 that are protruded to the facing surface 22A and have leading ends abutting on the surface 22A.

Each of the protrusions 213 of the metal plating plate 26 is arranged in each gap between the neighboring protrusions 23 of the base body 22. The protrusions 213 have a circular column shape or a circular disc shape, and the leading ends of the protrusion 213 forms a plane matches to the surface 22A. The protrusions 213 have the same height from the surface 26B thereof.

The outer peripheral edge portion in the surface 22A of the base body 22 is provided with a chamber portion 22E recessed from the surface 22A instead of the convex curved portion 232C of the aforementioned embodiment. The chamber portion 22E is formed in an annular shape along the peripheral direction of the outer peripheral edge portion and is arranged to face the concave curved portion 26C of the metal plating plate 26.

As described above, in the CMP pad conditioner 241 according to the present embodiment, the surface 26B of the metal plating plate 26 facing to the base body 22 side is provided with the protrusions 213 protruding toward the facing surface 22A thereof. Therefore, the leading ends of the protrusions 213 abut on the surface 22A. The base body 22 and the metal plating plate 26 are bonded using the adhesive B2 by allowing the leading ends of the protrusions 213 and the facing surface 22A thereof to abut each other in addition to the aforementioned adherence. Therefore, it is possible to further increase the bonding strength.

In this case, since an anchor effect is generated in the external surface 213C by applying the adhesive B2 to the external surface (213C in FIG. 13) in addition to the leading ends of the protrusions 213, the bonding strength for the peeling off direction further increases.

Since the outer peripheral edge portion of the surface 22A of the base body 22 is provided with the chamber portion 22E recessed from the surface 22A, the excess amount of adhesive B2 inserted in the gap when the base body 22 and the metal plating plate 26 are bonded is flown and kept in the chamber portion 22E. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the excess amount of adhesive B2 from being leaked from the gap between the base body 22 and the metal plating plate 26.

The invention is not limited to the aforementioned embodiments, but various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

For example, while the protrusions 23 are provided in the surface 22A of the base body 22 in the second to fourth embodiments, and protrusions 213 are provided in the surface 26B of the metal plating plate 26 in addition to the protrusions 23 of the base body 22 in the fifth embodiment, the present invention is not limited thereto.

Both the protrusions 23 and 213 may be provided such that they are protruded from at least one of the surface 22A of the base body 22 and the surface 26B of the metal plating plate 26 toward the facing surfaces 26B and 22A, and the leading ends abut on the surfaces 26B and 22A. For example, the protrusions 213 may be provided in the surface 26B of the metal plating plate 26, and the protrusions 23 may not be provided in the base body 22.

The shapes of the protrusions 23 and 213 are not limited to the circular column shape or the circular disc shape described in the aforementioned embodiments. In addition to the circular column shape and the circular disc shape, the protrusions 23 and 213 may have various shapes such as a polygonal column shape, a polygonal plate shape, a stripe shape, a grid shape, a ring plate shape, an arced disc shape, and a radial shape. However, it is preferable that the protrusions 23 and 213 are shaped such that the excess amount of adhesive B2 can freely flow between the protrusions 23 and 213.

While a plurality of protrusions 23 and 213 are provided in the aforementioned embodiments, the present invention is not limited thereto. A single protrusion 23 or 213 may be provided. However, in this case, it is preferable that the protrusion 23 or 213 is shaped such that the metal plating plate 26 can be stably supported.

While, in the process of manufacturing the metal plating plate 26, the metal plating plate 26 is provided such that the shape of the metal plating plate growth substrate 216 matches to the shape of the surface 26B of the metal plating plate 26, and the covering portion 25 and the concave curved portion 26C thereof are also integrated into the metal plating plate 26 as a single body when the metal plating plate 26 is formed, the present invention is not limited thereto.

For example, after the metal plating plate 26 having a flat panel shape is manufactured, a press work or a drawing work may be applied to the outer peripheral edge portion of the metal plating plate 26 to form a contour of the metal plating plate 26 having a circular disc shape, the covering portion 25 or 235, or the concave curved portion 26C. While the metal plating plate 26 is formed by a Ni-plating, the metal plate 26 may be formed using other metallic materials in addition to the Ni-plating. Specifically, for example, using the SUS rolled steel plate having a flat panel shape as the metal plate 26, the shape having the aforementioned covering portions 25 and 235 may be formed by performing a drawing process such as a press work for the SUS rolled steel plate.

While the cutting blade is made by adhering the diamond abrasive grits 28 to the surface 26A of the metal plating plate 26 in the aforementioned embodiments, the cutting blade may be made by other methods such as by coating a diamond film using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method in a cutting blade shape formed by a laser work or the like.

The outer peripheral edge portion of the surface 22A of the base body 22 may be provided with a convex taper portion slanted gradually from the inner side to the outer side in a radial direction of the surface 22A toward a direction opposite to the metal plating plate 26 side along the direction of the axial line O2 instead of the convex curved portion 22C or 232C.

In this case, the outer peripheral edge portion of the surface 26B of the metal plating plate 26 may be provided with a concave taper portion slanted gradually from the inner side to the outer side in a radial direction of the surface 26B toward the base body 22 along the axial line O2 instead of the concave curved portion 26C. The concave and convex taper portions may abut each other and appressed tightly.

In addition, the aforementioned embodiments and variations may be appropriately combined. Elements of the aforementioned embodiments may be substituted with elements known in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated above, it should be understood that these are exemplary of the invention and are not to be considered as limiting. Additions, omissions, substitutions, and other modifications can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be considered as being limited by the foregoing description, and is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) conditioner in which diamond abrasive grit is adhered to a conditioning surface which faces and makes contact with an abrasive pad of a CMP machine, wherein the diamond abrasive grit is adhered to the CMP conditioner body by a metal plating layer, and the CMP conditioner body is formed of resin.

2. The CMP conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the metal plating layer including the diamond abrasive grit and the CMP conditioner body are provided as separate components and bonded as a single body.

3. The CMP conditioner according to claim 1, wherein an outer peripheral end portion of the metal plating layer is provided with a curved portion curved in a thickness direction of the metal plating layer along a side surface of the CMP conditioner body around an entire periphery.

4. The CMP conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the CMP conditioner body is made of engineering resin such as polyphenylene ether and polyphenylene sulfite.

5. A method of manufacturing a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) conditioner in which diamond abrasive grit is adhered to a conditioning surface which faces and makes contact with an abrasive pad of a CMP machine, the method comprising the steps of:

forming a base plating layer on a conditioning surface of a CMP conditioner body;

forming a Ni-strike plating layer on the base plating layer;

arranging diamond abrasive grit on the Ni-strike plating layer;

growing a buried plating layer on the Ni-strike plating layer to adhere the diamond abrasive grit; and

forming a coating layer on the entire conditioning surface.

6. A method of manufacturing a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) conditioner in which diamond abrasive grit is adhered to a conditioning surface which faces and makes contact with an abrasive pad of a CMP machine, the method comprising the steps of:

forming a base plating layer on a metal plating layer growth substrate;

forming a Ni-strike plating layer on the base plating layer;

arranging diamond abrasive grit on the Ni-strike plating layer;

growing a buried plating layer on the Ni-strike plating layer to adhere the diamond abrasive grit;

forming a coating layer on the entire conditioning surface; and

detaching the metal plating layer including the diamond abrasive grit from the metal plating layer growth substrate and attaching the metal plating layer to the conditioning surface of the CMP conditioner body made of resin.

7. The method according to claim 5, further including the steps of:

attaching a mask punched in a predetermined pattern to the base plating layer and arranging the diamond abrasive grit within holes of the mask after forming the base plating layer; and

temporarily adhering the diamond abrasive grit by an underlying plating layer, detaching the mask, and growing a buried plating layer to permanently adhere the diamond abrasive grit.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the steps of temporarily adhering and permanently adhering the diamond abrasive grit are performed a plurality of times.

9. The method according to claim 6, further including a step of growing a curved portion curved in a thickness direction of the metal plating layer in an outer peripheral end portion of the metal plating layer including the diamond abrasive grit as a single body with the metal plating layer.

10. A chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) pad conditioner including a base body, a metal plate which is disposed on the base body and has a cutting blade protruding on a surface to grind a CMP pad facing the surface using the cutting blade,

wherein the base body is made of a resin material,

wherein the base body and the metal plate are bonded to each other by an adhesive, and

wherein a protrusion that is protruding toward the facing surface and has a leading end abutting on the facing surface is provided in at least one of a surface of the base body directed to the metal plate and a surface of the metal plate directed to the base body.

11. The CMP pad conditioner according to claim 10, wherein the leading end of the protrusion is formed on a plane matching to the facing surface.

12. The CMP pad conditioner according to claim 10, wherein a plurality of protrusions are provided, and the heights of the protrusions protruded from the provided surface thereof are set to be the same.

13. The CMP pad conditioner according to claim 10, wherein the outer peripheral portion of the metal plate is provided with a covering portion having a tubular shape which covers the outer peripheral portion of the base body along a thickness direction of the metal plate.

14. The CMP pad conditioner according to claim 10,

wherein an outer peripheral edge portion of a surface of the base body directed to the metal plate is provided with a convex curved portion, and

wherein an outer peripheral edge portion of a surface of the metal plate directed to the base body is provided with a concave curved portion having a shape matching to the convex curved portion.

15. The CMP pad conditioner according to claim 13, wherein the base body is provided with an annular edge portion abutting on an opening edge portion of the covering portion.

16. The CMP pad conditioner according to claim 10, wherein a surface area of the leading ends of the protrusion has an area ratio of 20 to 78% for the provided bonding surface thereof.

17. The CMP pad conditioner according to claim 10, wherein the protrusion is set such that an area of a leading end thereof gradually increases from a center to an outer side of the provided surface thereof.

18. The method according to claim 6, further including the steps of:

attaching a mask punched in a predetermined pattern to the base plating layer and arranging the diamond abrasive grit within holes of the mask after forming the base plating layer; and

temporarily adhering the diamond abrasive grit by an underlying plating layer, detaching the mask, and growing a buried plating layer to permanently adhere the diamond abrasive grit.

19. The CMP pad conditioner according to claim 14, wherein the base body is provided with an annular edge portion abutting on an opening edge portion of the covering portion.